Gospel and jazz music are both legendary types of music but have both lost popularity since each of their founding in the early 1900s. Although not as popular today, both gospel music and jazz music have helped shape different types of music throughout the years and elements of them can still be found in music today. The call and response technique, imagery and different rhyme schemes appear in the poetry of gospel and jazz.
Poetry In Gospel Music
Gospel music, which can be defined as music written to express spiritual beliefs, has been around since the 18th century. It often has dominant harmonic vocals, sometimes with a choir, and instruments like drums and the piano. An antiphon, more commonly called the call and response pattern, is often associated with gospel music where the lead singer sings and the choir responds to what the lead singer sings. This is a type of poetry that uses a phrase that contains the main message of the song and shows the point of view of the song. It helps repeat the message so that it can clearly be seen and the message can be delivered in a meaningful way. Antiphon’s stanzas alternate from short to long to short where the response-refrain part occurs in the short stanzas, carry a lyrical rhythm and can rhyme or not rhyme. Lots of times, the call and response method is used to help create an image of what is going on. Here is an example of lyrics by George Herbert of a gospel call and response psalm.
Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing, My God and King
The heav’ns are not too high, His praise may thither file: The earth is not too low, His praises there may grow.
Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing, My God and King
The church with psalms must shout, No doore can keep them out: But above all, the heart Must bear the longest part.
In this song, the last words in first two lines of the repeated stanza rhyme with each other. In the longer stanza, the last words in the first and second lines rhyme and the last words in the third and fourth lines rhyme. This rhyming scheme helps the message of the song seem strong and important. The first stanza where the lead singer "calls" is short and the second stanza where the audience "responds" is longer.
For more examples of gospel music click the link at the end of the page. Artists like Ray Charles and Elvis Presley both incorporated parts of gospel music into their “new” music, which helped create and develope rock and roll as well as other genres of music. As music began to change, artists used elements of gospel music in their new styles of music but traded in the spiritual lyrics with words of love and everyday topics.
Poetry In Jazz
Jazz music has been around since the early 1920s and is still heard today. It is hard to define jazz music because there are many varieties. Often times trumpets, drums and stringed instruments make up a jazz band. One thing that all jazz includes is a special relationship to time and improvisation. A jazz artist goes outside of the box when singing to put his or her own personal twist and opinions in the music. Moods, personal experience, interactions with other musicians and members of the audience all influence how a jazz artist will perform. A rhythm section plays chords and rhythms that outline the song structure and complement the artist. The poetry in jazz includes using many images and many types of rhyme schemes because of the improvisation of the artist. Notice the rhyme scheme in the following poem:
"I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" by Armond J. Piron
I went to a dance with my sister Kate Everybody there thought she danced so great I realized a thing or two When I got wise to something new
When I looked at Kate, she was in a trance And then I knew it was in her dance All the boys are going wild Over sister Katie’s style
Jazz poetry, which is poetry that demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation, has influenced jazz music and lyrics used within jazz songs. Poets began to combine rhythm and jazz-like repetitive phrases to create this jazz poetry. The poetry in jazz music originally used repetition and improvisation to help artists and poets express themselves and prove their status as an artist. The last line of the first stanza rhymes with the last line of the second stanza and again with the third and fourth stanzas. In the next jazz poem, however, there appears to be no rhyme scheme.
Cabaret by Sterling Allen Brown
Rich, flashy, puffy-faced, Hebrew and Anglo-Saxon, The overlords sprawl here with their glittering darlings. The smoke curls thick, in the dimmed light Surreptitiously, deaf-mute waiters Flatter the grandees, Going easily over the rich carpets, Wary lest they kick over the bottles Under the tables.
Even though these poems have different rhyme schemes, they both portray a feeling of improvisation and lots of imagery, which satisfies the definition of jazz music.
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Louis Armstrong "Hello Dolly"
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For information on the featured artist Louis Armstrong, click here.
Selected Audio
For "Come On Children, Let's Sing" by Mahalia Jackson click below.
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For "It's a Highway to Heaven"by Thomas A. Dorsey click below.
For "Dream a Little Dream" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong click below.
Poetry In Music
Music of the Early 20th Century
Gospel and jazz music are both legendary types of music but have both lost popularity since each of their founding in the early 1900s. Although not as popular today, both gospel music and jazz music have helped shape different types of music throughout the years and elements of them can still be found in music today. The call and response technique, imagery and different rhyme schemes appear in the poetry of gospel and jazz.
Poetry In Gospel Music
Gospel music, which can be defined as music written to express spiritual beliefs, has been around since the 18th century. It often has dominant harmonic vocals, sometimes with a choir, and instruments like drums and the piano. An antiphon, more commonly called the call and response pattern, is often associated with gospel music where the lead singer sings and the choir responds to what the lead singer sings. This is a type of poetry that uses a phrase that contains the main message of the song and shows the point of view of the song. It helps repeat the message so that it can clearly be seen and the message can be delivered in a meaningful way. Antiphon’s stanzas alternate from short to long to short where the response-refrain part occurs in the short stanzas, carry a lyrical rhythm and can rhyme or not rhyme. Lots of times, the call and response method is used to help create an image of what is going on. Here is an example of lyrics by George Herbert of a gospel call and response psalm.Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King
The heav’ns are not too high,
His praise may thither file:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.
Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King
The church with psalms must shout,
No doore can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
In this song, the last words in first two lines of the repeated stanza rhyme with each other. In the longer stanza, the last words in the first and second lines rhyme and the last words in the third and fourth lines rhyme. This rhyming scheme helps the message of the song seem strong and important. The first stanza where the lead singer "calls" is short and the second stanza where the audience "responds" is longer.
For more examples of gospel music click the link at the end of the page. Artists like Ray Charles and Elvis Presley both incorporated parts of gospel music into their “new” music, which helped create and develope rock and roll as well as other genres of music. As music began to change, artists used elements of gospel music in their new styles of music but traded in the spiritual lyrics with words of love and everyday topics.
Poetry In Jazz
Jazz music has been around since the early 1920s and is still heard today. It is hard to define jazz music because there are many varieties. Often times trumpets, drums and stringed instruments make up a jazz band. One thing that all jazz includes is a special relationship to time and improvisation. A jazz artist goes outside of the box when singing to put his or her own personal twist and opinions in the music. Moods, personal experience, interactions with other musicians and members of the audience all influence how a jazz artist will perform. A rhythm section plays chords and rhythms that outline the song structure and complement the artist. The poetry in jazz includes using many images and many types of rhyme schemes because of the improvisation of the artist. Notice the rhyme scheme in the following poem:"I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" by Armond J. Piron
I went to a dance with my sister Kate
Everybody there thought she danced so great
I realized a thing or two
When I got wise to something new
When I looked at Kate, she was in a trance
And then I knew it was in her dance
All the boys are going wild
Over sister Katie’s style
Jazz poetry, which is poetry that demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation, has influenced jazz music and lyrics used within jazz songs. Poets began to combine rhythm and jazz-like repetitive phrases to create this jazz poetry. The poetry in jazz music originally used repetition and improvisation to help artists and poets express themselves and prove their status as an artist. The last line of the first stanza rhymes with the last line of the second stanza and again with the third and fourth stanzas. In the next jazz poem, however, there appears to be no rhyme scheme.
Cabaret by Sterling Allen Brown
Rich, flashy, puffy-faced,
Hebrew and Anglo-Saxon,
The overlords sprawl here with their glittering darlings.
The smoke curls thick, in the dimmed light
Surreptitiously, deaf-mute waiters
Flatter the grandees, Going easily over the rich carpets,
Wary lest they kick over the bottles
Under the tables.
Even though these poems have different rhyme schemes, they both portray a feeling of improvisation and lots of imagery, which satisfies the definition of jazz music.
Featured Video
Featured Artist
- For information on the featured artist Louis Armstrong, click here.
Selected Audio- For "Come On Children, Let's Sing" by Mahalia Jackson click below.
.